Tulsa Man Arrested, Accused Of Robbing Hispanic Victims At Gunpoint

A Tulsa man who recently got out of prison for robbing Hispanic victims at gunpoint is back in jail after investigators say he's doing the exact same crimes again.

Police say Christopher Railback targets people leaving clubs or taco trucks and robs them. Railback served seven years in prison and was released in 2022.

Just a month after Railback was released from prison in July of 2022, Tulsa Police Robbery investigators started getting reports of Hispanic victims getting robbed. Investigators say they have about 10 cases fitting the same description and have tied Railback to a few of them so far, but they expect more charges.

Investigators say surveillance video Railback moments before he robbed a Hispanic woman at gunpoint near a taco truck in the spring of 2023. They say Railback took her cash and her car.

In December, investigators say Railback followed a Hispanic man and woman home from a club and robbed them, too. They say they caught Railback because of the car he used to follow the victims.

"He just kind of mills around, late, when a club closes or a taco truck closes. We believe he conducts surveillance, picked out a victim, and did his thing,” said Lieutenant Justin Ritter with Tulsa Police.

Records show Railback served seven years of a 10-year prison sentence for robbing a Hispanic family at gunpoint in their driveway in 2014. That time, he stole their car, purse, and jewelry.

"I guess he didn't learn his lesson, figures it is an easy target and got caught again,” said Ritter. “There's probably, I don't know, ten that we are looking at with that same MO. We've got charges on three. We are looking to add on up to three more."

Lieutenant Ritter says Hispanic victims aren't getting robbed in Tulsa every day but says, unfortunately, it is common because they often carry cash.

Vicente Ruiz started Council For Safe Neighborhoods and works with the Hispanic community to encourage people to report crimes because oftentimes, they are afraid. 

"They are targeted because they do not report it. They can take your wallet and everything, and they are afraid to make a phone call saying, hey, I just got robbed,” said Ruiz.

Ruiz encourages people who are victims of crimes to get a good description of the person responsible and try to get a car description and license plate number.

"Something we've got to remember, if they did it to me, they will do it to somebody else. If they do it to you, they will do it to somebody else. If we let them, they are going to keep going and doing the same stuff,” said Ruiz.

Ruiz and police want people to know that if they are a victim of a crime, law enforcement doesn't care about the victim's immigration status; they just want to help.